Town Constable George Rutherford

George Rutherford

Town Constable George Rutherford was shot and killed when he encountered three moonshining suspects while attempting to serve a warrant on a man for wife desertion.

Constable Rutherford parked at the edge of the woods to walk to the man's shack at Mermaid Lake, leaving his wife in his car. He was shot when he encountered the three men. His wife immediately went back to town and reported the incident.

A sheriff's posse was organized and immediately went to the scene. The posse located two suspects at a still and attempted to arrest them. In the ensuing shootout, both suspects were killed. A third suspect was shot and killed a short time later. Four members of the sheriff's posse were wounded during the shootouts.

It was later determined that one of the men was wanted for the murder of Deputy Constable Roby Scott of the Floyd County Constable's Office, Kentucky. Deputy Constable Scott was murdered in the line of duty on February 13th, 1926.

Constable Rutherford was survived by his wife.